Inspired by the spiritual “Were You There ” this musical experience is based on several monologues by thosse who were at the cross. The work leads us through many emotions: from the Holy Love shown to Mary Magdalene to the intimacy of Mother Marty's Still My Son to the regret of Peter in It Should Have Been Me. The musical can be of almost any length since each momologue and anthem may be used independently. However We WereThere is used it will provide a powerful Holy Week resource for years to come. Maximum length if all pieces are used: 53 minutes.Includes: Were You There?; Holy Love; Christ Is Our Brother; Surely This Was the Sonof God; How Can It Be?; Still My Son; It Should Have Been Me; We Were There; At the Cross.

London No. 12-Joseph Haydn's 'Eulenburg Pocket Score' is the result of his second trip to England in 1794. This work is one of the still popular from the series of the so-called '12 London Symphonies' (Hob. 1/93 - Hob. 104).The work characterized by musical finesse and various sonic stimuli has the following four movements: I. Adagio - Allegro - II. Allegretto (C major) - III. Menuet: Moderato - IV. Presto. The somewhat unusual epithet 'military symphony' refers essentially to the second and the fourth movement ('Allegretto' and 'Presto') in which the instrumentation is enriched by timpani triangle cymbals and bass drum and thereby the evokes the impression of amilitary band. A 'trumpet signal' especially set in the second movement led to such a characterization. On the value and importance of this G major Symphony the following article from the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of April 1799 reveals: 'It is a little less learned and easier to grasp than some of the other's newest works but new ones Ideas just as rich as they. Perhaps the surprise in music can not be furthered than it is here by the sudden collapse of full Janissary music in the minor of the second movement-since until then one has no suspicion that these Turkish instruments are attached to the symphony. But here too not only the inventive but also the prudent artist shows. Nevertheless the Andante is nevertheless a whole: for in all the pleasing and easy things that the composer in order to infer from the idea of his coup deceitfully brought it into the first part of it it is nevertheless arranged and worked in a march.' The 'Military Symphony' was premiered on March 31 1799 in London.

One-act play by Peter Kien-In September 1942 Viktor Ullmann was interned in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt where he composed the opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis [The Emperor of Atlantis] on a libretto of Peter Kien a fellow prisoner in 1943.This opera was rehearsed by a chamber ensemble founded with the permission of the SS but its first performance was prohibited after the final rehearsal. The autograph of the score only survived because shortly before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944 Ullmann handed it together with the libretto to a friend who was able to save both manuscripts at the end of the war.The opera is a parable of a cruel emperor whose senseless war isclaiming many lives. Death puts an end to the chaos by refusing his duty - now everyone lives for eternity. The king becomes disempowered but the people long for a release from the pain of life. Only the voluntary death of the emperor can restore death's original purpose. The libretto is a vigorous take on the Third Reich and more particularly the concentration camp of Theresienstadt through the means of a mystery play. The music with its numerous references to jazz and then current light music sometimes by direct quotation puts the composer in the role of political commentator following the tradition of topical opera in the 1920's.

Haydn?s ?Farewell Symphony? is one of the most frequently played works of the symphonic repertoire. The popular title did not derive from the composer but refers to the final movement at the end of which (Adagio) the musicians stop playing one after the other leaving only two violins to end the work. According to an anecdote the musicians? exit was a means of making reference to the demands of orchestral work at Esterháza at the end of the season.The publication of Haydn?s ?Sturm und Drang? Symphonies the Farewell Symphony and Symphony No. 48 (the so-called ?Maria Theresia? Symphony) represents a continuation of the cooperation between Bärenreiter and theHenle publishing company for editions of larger choral works operas and symphonic works. The publications are based on the Henle ?Complete Edition of the Works of Joseph Haydn?. Both symphonies (BA 10971 and BA 10972) will be published with a full score and orchestra parts on sale in a large format.

Commissioned jointly for Colin Currie by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust. First performance on 14th May 2008 at Symphony Hall Birmingham by Colin Currie (percussion) and the City ofBirmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins.NOTE FOR PERFORMANCEIn table top the unpitched solo percussion part in the 9th movement the scoring was initially left open. The present full score showsa suggested instrumentation  which was devised by Colin Currie in conjunction with the composer. Soloists  should attempt to match the timbres used but should not feel constrained by the  exact choice ofinstruments.COMPOSER’S NOTEThe percussion instruments used in a table of noises in some ways represent the odd things that were on my great uncle Ash’s parlour table that fascinated me as a child. There is even abottle; there was always a milk bottle with the silver top pushed in surrounded by other essentials for his life. From birth he was quite severely handicapped in one of his legs and couldn’t walk too far without his trusty crutch.He kept everything he needed within arm’s length. In the list of instruments for the solo part there’s everything from deep log drum sounds to very high metallic chime sounds. Wood glass metal and a whistle. Mostlysmall-scale things with a large gong behind used sparingly. I think that we managed to keep below 30 instruments in all which I was keen to do. I didn’t want scores of things that are only played once they have to earn theirkeep. I didn’t want to use a marimba but thought that trying to make the xylophone sound in a more expressive way would be more of a challenge. The percussionist sits for much of the time on a Cajon a flamenco instrument which isessentially a wooden box. The player hits the front of the box in various ways rather as you play a conga. There are guitar strings inside and bells to add to the overall colour. I would like to thank Colin Currie for the

This Orchestral score and instrumental parts have been arranged by Frank Naylor for school and amateur Orchestras. This set includes a conductor’s score and instrumental parts as well as Piano accompaniment elementary Violin Alto and Tenor Saxophone and 3rd Violin. With the composition of the Thunder and Lightning Polka Johann Strauss completed the elevation of the polka from an Eastern European peasant romp to a dance form embraced by Vienna’s most fashionable circles. The ‘Waltz King’ was also a prolific composer other dance music: gallops and polkas marches and quadrilles. His sparkling dazzling Thunder and Lightning quick polka has become such a favourite in therepertoire that it is played every year along with The Blue Danube in the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day Concert. The programmatic scoring evokes elemental weather events through the extensive use of timpani and the clashing of cymbals szforzandi and dramatic accents. The piece ends with as much excitement and energy as it begins not flagging for a second.

Ten Secret Doors - Suite For Orchestra was composed by Swedish composer Britta Byström in 2010. Commissioned by Västerås Sinfonietta and premiered by VS conducted by Johannes Gustavsson on April 14 2011. Programme note: Each of the ten movements in the orchestral suite Ten Secret Doors contains a transformation a stage-change in sound meant to give a feeling that the music 'slips away'. In the first movement this transformation is achieved by a sudden orchestral sound change from tutti to solo. There follow changes from muted sound to open sound from wind section to string section from bow play to pizzicato play. In the last movement there is a trumpet solo that is first played on stage then off stage - a transformation from close to distant. I pictured the ending of every movement as the opening rather than the closing of a door.In this work there is also a small musical quotation from 'Von fremden Ländern und Menschen' (from Robert Schumann's famous Kinderszenen). This phrase snuck into music as a greeting from another suite characterized by many short movements of flightiness and lightness.(Britta Byström)  

Robert Simpson’s Symphony No.9 is a powerful experience. There is mystery and a sense of concentrated intensity here carried in a single monumental movement driven by one basic pulse. Simpson composed this work for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and it was first performed by them conducted by Vernon Handkley at Poole in Dorset On 8 April 1987. This item is the full conductor’s score containing full Orchestral score. 'There are few musical minds in the world capable of completing such a large and complex symphonic structure . . .' Paul Driver The Sunday Times 26 April 1987

New York is the city which fascinates and inspires Ruders. Time and again he goes back there to work. 'Manhattan Abstraction' (1982) subtitles - a symphonic skyline for large orchestra - was conceived there. Ruders’ Brittish colleague Oliver Knussen defines the piece as: - a performance of an extraordinary Morden-Times-like construction. It is a sort of symphonic sculpture which in the composer’s own words words propels forth from one particular inspiration: the New York profile as seen from Liberty Island one icy cold January day with it’s open clear sky and dazzling sun light. 'Manhatten Abstraction' appears as an amalgam of some of the compositorical habits foundin present pieces. For instance are present here compositorical ideas and melodic loans from 'Capriccio Pian’e Forte' 2nd String Quartet(1979) 'Four Compositions' (1980) and 2nd Piano Sonata(1982). The question at hand is mainly concerned with the enhanced elaboration of Ruders’ use of the classic English change-ringing system: a permuting method pre-determining the order of tone-appearances and /or tone groups; a serial technique in other words. In spite of the rigidly fixed material Ruders somehow manages to chisel out a personal expression by way of emphasising contrasting elements already existing within the material itself. The spiky repetitive sections form a counterpart to a more human violin-solo. This dialectical tension is - as hinted by the title - a symphonic abstraction of a fascinating metropolis; the most beautiful and the ugliest. The subtitle: a symphonic skyline reflects the musical erection of the Manhattan profile which under the clear sky materializes into the most powerful and compelling man-made sculpture on earth. Thus 'Manhattan Abstraction' is a homage to as well as a vision of this giant contraption of concrete glass and chrome.

The twelve ?London Symphonies? comprise the sublime final statement of Haydn?s symphonic ?uvre. They were written for the London impresario Johann Peter Salomon and Haydn himself conducted their premieres during his lengthy stays in the English metropolis in 1791/92 and 1794/95. Hailing from 1791 the Symphony in D major no. 96 numbers among the first symphonies written in and for London. The epithet given to it by posterity ?The Miracle? was bestowed erroneously for the miracle ? that no one was injured when a chandelier fell during a concert ? took place during a performance of a different Haydn symphony. And yet it is a miracle of musical esprit nonetheless from the subtlerelations between the motives consisting of broken triads that open all four movements to the virtuosic shifts in mood owing to surprising harmonies Haydn here submits a prime example of how he develops musical ideas. This study edition adopts the musical text of the Haydn Complete Edition thereby guaranteeing the highest scholarly quality. An informative preface and a brief Critical Report make the handy score an ideal companion for all current and soon-to-be Haydn fans. The twelve ?London Symphonies? comprise the sublime final statement of Haydn?s symphonic ?uvre. They were written for the London impresario Johann Peter Salomon and Haydn himself conducted their premieres during his lengthy stays in the English metropolis in 1791/92 and 1794/95. Hailing from 1791 the Symphony in D major no. 96 numbers among the first symphonies written in and for London. The epithet given to it by posterity ?The Miracle? was bestowed erroneously for the miracle ? that no one was injured when a chandelier fell during a concert ? took place during a performance of a different Haydn symphony. And yet it is a miracle of musical esprit nonetheless from the subtlerelations between the motives consisting of broken triads that open all four movements to the virtuosic shifts in mood owing to surprising harmonies Haydn here submits a prime example of how he develops musical ideas. This study edition adopts the musical text of the Haydn Complete Edition thereby guaranteeing the highest scholarly quality. An informative preface and a brief Critical Report make the handy score an ideal companion for all current and soon-to-be Haydn fans.

The task: to write a piece that could involve children as players singers and composers alongside a professional symphony or chamber orchestra. The solution: a peace-cry for the biosphere in which the collaborative nature of theenterprise is a metaphor for a wished-for human enlightenment to the ways of the natural world. Davies provides five musical elements and five ways of development and uses these to illustrate five branches of life on earth:water-plants trees fish birds and mammals (including man). There is a space for answers from children's instrumental groups and then a larger space in which the children can develop the given ideas perhaps with members of theorchestra. Davies returns as composer to depict through an excess of development creation turned sour. Finally everyone comes together with a unison hymn with orchestra and instrumental groups celebrating the turn of thetide.This work for young instrumentalists children's chorus and orchestra was commissioned by the Association of British Orchestras as the centrepiece of an education project which coincided with the implementation of theNational Curriculum for music in schools in England and Wales echoing similar developments in Scotland and Northern Ireland.Score. Duration c. 25mins.

Incontri for Orchestra (2010) by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen. Commissioned by The Danish National Symhony Orchestra / DR. Parts are for hire: hire@ewh.dk Preface / Programme Note INCONTRI is a kind of orchestral prelude presenting some of the orchestra’s timbral possibilities. The timbres of the instrument groups emerge either clear on their ownor in various blends. There are no doublings between the three main groups – winds strings and percussion – each group maintains its own individual character evenduring the encounters; as in a forest where different kinds of birds continuetheirterritorial song without yielding or altering their signals.The joint musical project is not unlike a Baroque concerto grosso not only in theway the form plays the groups off against each other but also in the musical language itself. I have previously written a concerto grosso which I called ”Jungle Baroque” becauseof its savage and wild sounds. The same thing can be said about INCONTRI – bydegrees. Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

Poul Ruders' Handel Variations for Orchestra (2009) -Ninety Symphonic Reflections on Eight Bars by Georg Friedrich Handel.Commissioned by and dedicated to the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in celebration of their 75th anniversary 2010. Premiered by The Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Andretta at the Aarhus Concert Hall 14 January 2010. Programme noteThe short feisty Bourrée from Handel´s famous Water Music (First Suite in F major) has for some years been hovering at the back of my mind as possessing the perfectpotential for a series of variations. Not unlike the short 'morsel' by Henry Purcell (the witches Ho-ho-ho-chorus from the opera Dido and Aeneas) which kicks off the ten variations of my orchestral work Concerto in Pieces the music per se is not particularly interesting but it nevertheless grows on you and is difficult to get rid of. It is merely a handful of sequences (a technique much used in the Baroque era - a method in which the same motif is being shifted up and down in a specified order). Actually it is only the first eight bars of the Bourrée which I haul through the wringer.It would be obvious to assume that Handel Variations make up a sequel to Concerto in Pieces but in spite of the similarity in character between the two chosen themes the Handel Variations are far more symphonically coherent. There are no less than ninety (!) variations and each variation (they are relatively short ranging from four up to forty-something bars) runs seamlessly into the next creating a huge symphonic body of constantly changing colours. I set out with the original theme without interfering but the 'erosion' begins to gnaw away at the theme already from the first variation. Imagine a vast gallery of Handel portraits in which Georg Friedrich appears at first fully recognizable but then the 'disfiguration' sets in and

Unlike MacMillan’s first three symphonies Symphony no 4 (2014 15) is essentially abstract. Here he is interested in the interplay of different types of material following upon a fascination with music as ritual that has stretched from Monteverdi in the early 17th century through to Boulez and Birtwistle in the present day. There are four distinct archetypes in this work which can be viewed as rituals of movement exhortation petition and joy. It is also a homage to Robert Carver (c1487 after 1566) the most important Scottish composer of the High Renaissance. There are allusions to Carver’s 10-voice Mass Dum sacrum mysterium embedded in the symphony and at anumber of points it emerges from across the centuries in a more discernible form: the vocal lines are muted and muffled literally in the distance as they are played delicately by the back desks of the violas cellos and double basses.

Galánta is a small Hungarian market-town known by the travellers from Vienna to Budapest. The composer has passed through there many times during his childhood at the time there existed a famous Gipsy-band which has disappeared since their music was the first 'orchestral sonority' which came to the ear of the composer. The forbearers of these gipsies were known already more than a hundred years ago about 1800 some books of Hungarian dances were published in Vienna one of which contained music 'after several gipsies from Galantha'. The composer has taken his principal subjects from these ancient editions. (ZoltánKodály 1934)